The Colonial Army has reclaimed its territory.

According to a press release sent Wednesday by co-president Daniel Gardner yesterday, the Colonial Army, a student organization that supports GW’s basketball programs, will once again offer reserved seating for its members at Smith Center.

Three hundred seats in the lower section of seating will be set aside for Colonial Army members, a benefit that had not been available since the 2005-06 season. According to the release, the group recently received approval for the special seating from Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities Jason Wilson, though Wilson could not be reached for confirmation.

Also included in the Colonial Army’s member benefit package will be T-shirts, bags, discounted tickets to the game against Navy in the BB&T Classic, and a number of special events. The T-shirt design has already been approved, Gardner said, and the first 150 members will receive theirs upon registering.

In addition, Gardner said that there are already commitments from men’s basketball head coach Karl Hobbs’ and women’s basketball head coach Mike Bozeman’s offices for them to participate in some member events. Hobbs was quoted in the release as saying he was looking forward to the group’s support this year.

All this is a concerted effort by the group to rejuvenate itself after last season’s controversial inactivity under former co-presidents Victor Danau and Becky Wilson. Members grew restless when they failed to receive many of the benefits promised to them when they purchased membership before the season. T-shirts were not distributed until after the season had concluded.

This came after a 2007-08 season that was also largely inactive – a recent history that Gardner said the group’s new leadership will look to rectify.

“After two years of students being frustrated, members are going to find every game exciting and be proud supporters of Colonials basketball,” Gardner said in the release. Chris Reeve will serve as his co-president.

Membership will cost $15 during a three-day membership drive that will last Sept. 8 through 10, after which the cost will be $20.

Also listed in the press release is a special Smith Center viewing event, where members will get a glimpse at the renovated arena when they pick up their Colonial Army merchandise. The event is currently slated for late October, Gardner said.

The group will also be looking to increase its Web presence in another response to criticism over the past few seasons. The Colonial Army Web site was sparsely updated. Gardner said that not only will the site be updated this coming year, but that the group will also have a presence on Twitter and possibly enlist one of its members to blog from a road game.

“We are more dedicated than we have ever been,” Gardner wrote in an e-mail. “And we’re positive that this will be one of the best years the Army has ever had.”